50 reasons why rule no12 is misphrased
by nici's anatomy
Summary: We know, Jethro has a reason for his rules, but what if he's wrong and rule #12 was made in a moment when hurt and pain had clouded his judgment? Here are 50 reasons why rule #12 is actually misphrased ... Jibbs - Spoiler up to JD


**Title:** 50 reasons why rule #12 is misphrased**  
****Pairing:** Jenny Shepard/Jethro Gibbs**  
Genre:** General, Romance, Humor, Pre-Series, Drama**  
Rating:** PG-13**  
Warning:** Spoiler for everything from pre-series up to the season 5 finale**  
Summary:** We know, Jethro has a reason for his rules, but what if he's wrong and rule #12 was made in a moment when hurt and pain had clouded his judgment? Here are 50 reasons why rule #12 is actually misphrased ;)**  
Notes:** 50 themes/one sentence for each theme - that's the challenge at lj's 1sentence, and it wasn't an easy one … Not beta'd.**  
Disclaimer:** I don't own these characters (although I'd love to own Action Figure Gibbs), nor am I making any money from them. If I would Season 5 would have ended different.

_"Romance between agents, Kate … it never works."  
"Are you speaking from experience?"  
(1.08 "Minimum Security")_

**#01 - Comfort**  
There wasn't a mission too hard, a case too cruel, a day too exhausting, a fight too loud, that wouldn't vanish in the comfort of his embrace at the end of the day - and vice versa.

**#02 - Kiss**  
It was only a quick kiss on her check, but seeing this gesture from her spot on the stairs broke Jenny's heart in thousand pieces, and suddenly all these regrets she kept having over the past six years turned into a dull gnawing in her chest.

**#03 - Soft**  
"Shut up," she says, her voice softly, while her hand gently covers his mouth, preventing him from talking too much and bringing back memories of a time when they were equal partner and not (just) the director and the agent.

**#04 - Pain**  
After she had left him, he had tried to forget her, when that didn't help dealing with his pain, he had started to recall every moment they had shared, every time they had kissed, every time they had made love, every fight, everything that was locked safe inside of him, but that couldn't ease his pain, either; so he gave up trying.

**#05 - Potatoes**  
"Incoming!" Jenny shouted and before Jethro even had the chance to look up or react, a large portion of mashed potatoes was flying across the table, his forehead as the target, and with that the first (and only) food fight in that farmhouse in Serbia had started.

**#06 - Rain**  
London was famous for its rainy weather, and they were both soaking wet from running these few meters to their cab, but for him, she was still the most beautiful woman; a woman with dark lines of mascara running down her cheeks and wet strands of red curly hair clung forlornly to her forehead, while she burst into the cutest girly laughter he'd ever heard.

**#07 - Chocolate**  
It took him three month before he finally figured out, who was stealing all the chocolate bars from the vending machine in the break room, but once he knew it was just Jen trying to cheer herself up with sugar to survive her long and exhausting days at work, he started to make sure that there would always be some chocolate in her desk - but only Jethro and his partner in crime, Cynthia, ever knew about the director's secret desire.

**#08 - Happiness**  
"Are you happy?" he asked one night, after returning to their hotel room, from a solo mission he had been assigned to alone, and even before she answered he already knew from the look in her green eyes that the answer was 'yes', now that he was back.

**#09 - Telephone**  
Jenny's first day as director was over the second Jethro called her to bring her back on the street - at his side, the place where she'd always belonged.

**#10 - Ears**  
Secretaries - the best source for office gossip - were known of having the best ears, but sometimes Cynthia wished she would be able to stop eavesdropping; especially when her boss and Agent Gibbs were alone in the director's office, shouting at each other or - the worst of all - doing things that definitely should be done someplace else.

**#11 - Name**  
It was supposed to be 'Director Shepard' or 'Ma'am' when they were on the job, but he choose to called her 'Madame Director', until she threatened him with the offer to demonstrate what keelhauling really was and why the dutch sailors had found this form of punishment very painful; after that they were back to 'Jenny' or 'Jen' - like he used to call her off the job.

**#12 - Sensual**  
"I thought I recognized your perfume," Jethro said smiling, but the second these words had left his mouth he already knew he was talking to the wrong woman, because the memories and senses this smell had brought back were much older than his relationship (or whatever it was they had) with the blonde woman walking next to him.

**#13 - Death**  
It was only moments before her death that she got the reassurance that the man she'd never stopped loving (despite of what she was trying to convince herself of) still had feelings for her; he never told her that directly, but Jenny knew she could trust Mike Franks and his non-existent sense of romance that he wasn't just making this up, to make her feel better.

**#14 - Sex**  
The air in the attic in Marseille was hot and steamy, but the reason for this wasn't the bride August sun outside the window, shining on the harbor and the Lebanese trawler; that had changed the night before, when partners had become lovers in a long, passionate way they both would never forget.

**#15 - Touch**  
"You're hurting me, Jen," he groaned and she gave him her don't-be-such-a-baby-Jethro-look, while she continued examining the area around his fractured rip, the goosebumps on his arms proved he was lying; her touch was soft and careful and, as always, he was having a hard time focusing on anything else but his probie's hands.

**#16 - Weakness**  
"Stop looking at me like this, Jethro," Jenny protested halfhearted, but they both knew she'd already lost; he still remembered where her weak spots were and what button he had to push to get what he wanted from her, and she had long stopped trying to fight him.

**#17 - Tears**  
"I almost lost you today, Jethro," she said and the tears in her eyes were so new for him and so true, they hurt more than the bullet he'd taken today.

**#18 - Speed**  
Others were afraid to sit in the car when Jethro was driving, but Jenny had always felt safe with him and she could even find some sleep on the passenger seat, while Jethro was speeding to (or from) their next crime scene.

**#19 - Wind**  
He loved it when her hair streamed out behind her, and although he knew it annoyed the hell out of Jenny every night when she desperately tried to comb the knots out, the wind had left, Jethro secretly wished for a warm breeze every morning he woke up in their hotel room in Positano.

**#20 - Freedom**  
Boat, bourbon, basement, and a never ending supply of hot coffee, were things Jethro associated with freedom, but lately, he more often found himself adding a certain redheaded woman, he'd just started working with, to this list, and for the first time in years it felt good to have something living, something human on this list.

**#21 - Life**  
He wasn't there when she took her last breath, taking the life worth living with her, but he knew he would follow her years later, and until then, she would always live on in his memories, in his heart.

**#22 - Jealousy**  
She wasn't jealous of Hollis Mann, because Jenny knew she and Jethro wouldn't last - at least, that's the lie she always told herself, but never really believed.

**#23 - Hands**  
The day they became partner, they put their lives into each others hands and they knew they would always have each others back - no matter what would happen.

**#24 - Taste**  
Honeydust … it makes a woman's skin feel silky smooth, when kissed it tastes like honey; Jethro knew this long before he got this box on Christmas - with no card.

**#25 - Devotion**  
Ambition and a true sense of duty, weren't thing Jethro would call wrong, but what Jenny was doing to herself since she'd become director was more than just devotion for what she believed in, and he knew he could no longer stand idly by, while she was ruining her health.

**#26 - Forever**  
In Paris, on top of the Eiffel Tower, her kiss had promised his heart forever, but it was his gut that knew the truth; his famous gut feeling that had never failed him.

**#27 - Blood**  
It wasn't until they were back in the hotel that Jethro noticed all the blood on his own cloth and realized how close he had been to loose Jenny today, in this dark alley in Prague.

**#28 - Sickness**  
Jenny wanted to tell him that she was dying, and that day in the elevator she was so close to finally break down, but the look in Jethro's eyes, the dark blue that usually look right through her, had shown her how far he was from seeing the truth and how safe her secret still was; so she didn't.

**#29 - Melody**  
Jenny had always envied couples that had their own special song, a melody of some kind that was played when they'd first met and that would bring back memories of that special moment in these couple's lives, every time it was played on the radio, but when she had met Jethro, there was no music in the background, no melody, nothing … which was okay, because all she needed to do was look at him, talk to him, or even fight with him to bring back Europe and all these moments they had shared back then.

**#30 - Star**  
Their relationship definitely was born under a bad star sign, when on her first day at NCIS Jenny had run into Jethro, breaking rule #23 by splitting his coffee, but Jenny was a typical redhead ... too stubborn and focused to be superstitious, and in the end it was both their luck that she didn't believe in such things - or felt intimidated by his famous stare -, because what had started at her own personal nightmare had soon turned into the best thing that ever happened to her in a long while.

**#31 - Home**  
Some say, home is the place you hang your hat; other say, home is the place you left; but for Jenny home always was the place where her heart was, and even when she had left Jethro in Paris to move on alone, she never stopped calling Europe her home - until the day she moved back to Washington D.C. to work with him again.

**#32 - Confusion**  
"Jen … Jenny … he … wait," Jethro shouted, rushing over the street to reach the redheaded woman, but when she finally stopped and turned around on her insane high heels, his heart sank and he once again cursed himself for his inability to forget the woman who had broke his heart just a few weeks ago.

**#33 - Fear**  
When they had started sleeping together, when their relationship had started to change from 'just partners' to 'friends' and finally to 'lovers' they had both feared that this would make things more complicated and at times it seems they were right (especially when Jethro had to be Jenny's superior), but in the end it turned out their relationship had made them even better partner who trusted each other unconditionally until the very end.

**#34 - Lightning/Thunder**  
"It sounds like gunshots," Jenny answered, when Jethro finally picked up the courage to ask her why she was afraid of thunderstorms, and although she was an agent with a gun as her company, and therefore used to gunfire, he could understand why she didn't like the sound of thunder or guns at all (it had something to do with their trained agent skills that made them restless and highly alerted 24/7), but it was only years later when he learned the whole truth about her fear.

**#35 - Bonds**  
Working together as partner, had bonded them together a long time ago, but this bond wasn't the only reason why Jenny grabbed her gun, seriously considering driving to that high school where Jethro had voluntarily decided to 'play hostage', and she was glad to have Ducky at her side, holding her back in the office, where she would be more use, than by running headless into the classroom, jeopardizing everyone's lives.

**#36 - Market**  
Jenny loved small flea markets and no matter how busy they were, what mission they were on … she would always find an opportunity to drag him to one of these markets, and after some time (it was probably the time they spend a day at the Quais de Seine in Paris) Jethro couldn't help but notice that he was actually starting to enjoy these trips, because when they were on one of these shopping tours it was like taking a break from everything for a while; in these moments, they would just be themselves - Jenny and Jethro, a couple madly in love with each other.

**#37 - Technology**  
She knew that Jethro and technology got along like fire and water, but still … she decided to write him an email instead of calling him to inform him about her decision to bring Ziva in; when she had something unpleasant to tell, knowing he would never (or only hours later, when it was already too late to protest) get the message was a good feeling, and she hardly felt bad about it - in her opinion, that was what rule #18 was made for.

**#38 - Gift**  
On Christmas Eve in Paris, when she'd unwrapped Jethro's gift, thanking him passionately for the coat he'd bought her, neither him nor Jenny would have guessed that this gift would one day save her life - and his heart.

**#39 - Smile**  
Her smile was warm, sweet, true and heartwarming; after they parted he never met someone with a smile as beautiful as hers.

**#40 - Innocence**  
'Dear Jethro …', these two words might sound innocent and meaningless for others, but for him they were Paris all over again, and reading them in Jenny's study, recognizing her characteristic handwriting, made him realize that there were mistakes you make not only once or twice, but over and over again … until it was too late for another chance to avoid making them again.

**#41 - Completion**  
With satisfaction (and also with a bit jealousy) Jethro watched as his team turned again into the family they had been before Kate had died; completed by Ziva as the stepsister and by Jenny as … he wasn't sure how Jenny would feel, if she knew the others - especially Abby - had adopted her as their mother, but he, as the involuntary father in this dysfunctional family, couldn't help but like the idea of seeing Jenny as a mom at his side.

**#42 - Clouds**  
He had noticed the dark clouds on the horizon, approaching Paris at - what seemed - the speed of light, but he was so stupid to listen to Jenny, who was pushing him up the endless stairs of the Eiffel Tower, only to end up soaking wet, once they had made it to the top, enjoying the practically non-existing view, blocked by hundreds of umbrellas, brought by smarter tourist than they were.

**#43 - Sky**  
Jethro's anger heightened with every mile he drove through the endless California desert to the diner, where Jenny had been killed only hours before, until he was ready to kill someone with his bare hands for this blatant injustice of her death and the irony of the beautiful (and inappropriate) blue sky outside the car window.

**#44 - Heaven**  
The desert beach in Mexico, far away from civilization was heaven on earth, but soon Jethro discovered that there was an angel missing to make his heaven complete, and that it was this missing person that kept him from relaxing and enjoying his retirement the way he had intended to, when he'd come to this beach in the first place.

**#45 - Hell**  
Jethro had gone through hell, after he had last seen her (without knowing it would be the last time in a long while), and it was kind of ironic that he had just went through another hell, when Jenny had returned to him almost six years later; unexpected and shocking, but in a moment he would later recall as a time he had needed her the most.

**#46 - Sun**  
Thinking of her taking care of Carson had felt strange at first, but when Jenny opened him her door, she looked so happy and relaxed like she used to be before the La Grenouille nightmare had started, and the sparkle in her eyes showed him that she was finally leaving the dark side, she had stayed at far too long, to see (and enjoy) the sun again, and he couldn't help but smile.

**#47 - Moon**  
Jethro would have loved to blame it on the moon that they hadn't seen their attacker earlier, and Jenny had almost successfully convinced him that there was no chance he could've seen the guy once the moon had vanished behind a big cloud, but Jethro just knew that it was his fault that Jenny had been shot - because he was the trained agent, he should have paid more attention in order to protect his partner.

**#48 - Waves**  
"Come, on Jethro, the water is perfect," Jenny shouted, running into the warm water of the Mediterranean Sea, but Jethro couldn't care less about the low waves, Jenny was now surrounded by; he only had eyes for her provocative red suit.

**#49 - Hair**  
Jethro had always had a thing for redheads, and although Jenny's long curly hair was as red as Shannon's, as Diane's, or as every women's hair he'd taken more than one look at, it wasn't her hair that had caught his attention in the first place, but her green eyes and her red lips, both smiling mysteriously at him and sending chills up his spine.

**#50 - Supernova**  
"Ruining this case would be like a supernova, Jethro, and we can't let that happen," Jenny said, desperation both, in her voice and in her eyes, but Jethro just smiled and squeezed her shoulder to assure her, that he and his team would never let her down, by letting the suspect get away with murder of two marines (one of them a young father and - as worse as it could be - the SecNav's nephew), and as Jenny's face softened he knew she trusted him with that.


End file.
